The Australian great, who has been coaching in the IPL since 2014, told a television interviewer after Tuesday's match: "The heart rate still up a bit for me. It's probably up over 200. I don't need many of those games like that and my age of over 50 now."
Ponting joined Punjab as head coach this season, tasked with bringing glory to a club who have yet to taste success. He said that this victory could be "a season-defining moment".
He added: "It was only three days ago we couldn't defend 246 (against Sunrisers Hyderabad) and here we are, defending 112 with 16 runs up our sleeves.
"We said to the guys at the halfway mark, really small chases like this are sometimes the hardest. The wicket wasn't easy. You can see that right through the game it was definitely holding up."
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal ignited a sensational Kolkata collapse with 4-28 for Punjab's 16-run win after the home team were dismissed for 111 in 15.3 overs.
Kolkata were cruising at 2-62 in the eighth over before Chahal got a lucky breakthrough when captain Ajinkya Rahane declined to go for an lbw TV review that could have overturned the on-field umpire's decision.
Chahal, who had bagged only two wickets this season in five previous games, went on to dismiss top-scorer Angkrish Raghuvanshi (37) before the leg-spinner got rid of Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh off successive deliveries as Kolkata slumped to 7-76.
Left-arm fast bowler Marco Jansen (3-17) and Arshdeep Singh (1-11) then mopped up the tail quickly despite Andre Russell (17) showing a brief spark and smashing two sixes and a boundary.
The winning total of 111 beat Chennai Super Kings' 9-116 against Punjab Kings in 2009 as the lowest score defended in a full IPL match.
Victory lifted Punjab into the top four with eight points from six matches while defending champions Kolkata are sixth after four defeats and three wins.
Ponting had surprised many observers by appearing to drop compatriot Marcus Stoinis in full public view on the pitch minutes before the start.
Stoinis had scored 59 runs in five matches without taking a wicket. His replacement, another Australian, Josh Inglis, made only two but marked his tournament debut by catching Vaibhav Arora late on.
Ponting has ensured he has plenty of Australian resource at his disposal. Glenn Maxwell made seven and took the wicket of Venkatesh Iyer, while another debutant, Xavier Bartlett, contributed 11 and the wicket of Kolkata opener Quinton de Kock.
